At Piper Woodworking, we offer a wide range of skill and specialties.  Whether the piece requires veneering, steam-bending, carving, working in marquetry or inlay, we possess the experience to deliver an end product of extraordinary quality.  Our approach is an appropriate blending of traditional techniques and tools with contemporary approaches.  Power tools are employed to enhance the end result, where they support and further the efforts of the individual craftsman.  The shop maintains a vast collection of carefully selected hardwood, purchased over the years as particular circumstances arose.  Our inventory of veneers includes species no longer available and has an unusual breadth and depth.  In addition, relationships with sawyers, lumber yards and veneer suppliers nurtured over the life of the shop allow us to get advance notice of extraordinary acquisition opportunities.

Veneering- Use of veneering techniques allows for the production of beautiful, enduring pieces that would be either impossible to produce or extraordinarily expensive to create in solid stock.  Some of the most extraordinary furniture available is and was historically produced in this manner.  Our stock of veneers offers the client a broad range of options and our suppliers extend that range to almost anything we can conceive.  We do almost all our own veneering, allowing us to have absolute control over the end result.  

With our vacuum presses, we can handle jobs of most any size or scope.  We have produced pieces requiring the veneer to adhere to complex or compound curves and have an inventory of forms produced for just such challenges.

Marquetry, Intarsia and Inlay- The process of creating designs and images with veneer is a classic approach employed by the master furniture makers.  The design is produced on paper, the appropriate veneers selected and then securely sandwiched together and taped. The design is then transferred to the background veneer. 

By cutting at an angle through both layers at the same time, any variation in the bevel cuts will be mirrored on both pieces and an accurate fit ensured.  Options for cutting the veneer range from an Exacto knife to a jeweler’s saw to a scroll saw with a tilting tabletop.  Glue is then applied to the veneer cutout, inlaid into the background and will require little pressure to remain in place.

Once the marquetry panel is complete, it is glued down to a substrait to ensure its integrity over time.  Final sanding and an appropriate finish (generally oil or lacquer) enhance the beauty of the piece and highlight the variations in color, grain and texture.